| Product: |
Renault Laguna in general |
| Date: |
07/07/00 (281 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Looks, comfort, extras
Disadvantages: Fuel consumption, depreciation
After buying two Renault Laguna 3.0 V6 I feel comfortable about offering comment.
The first 1995 M Reg was a dream. It was hard to fault, powerful, safe, good looking, comfortable, reliable and very relaxing to drive on long journeys. In the three years I owned it nothing mechanical went wrong. The only problem was the radio reception which was always appalling and could never be fixed which was annoying along with the vast consumption of petrol, not a green car.
So sufficiently pleased was I that in 1998 when I looked for a new car including BMWs and Mercs I settled on a new Laguna. At half the price of the german marks (sic) with the same spec it made sense, to me at least, despite the higher percentage depreciation of the French car. So I bought a replacement on spec without seeing or test driving the new version, and there the catologue of errors began. The 'new improved' version was in fact far worse. From tiny points like the passenger's vanity mirror was no longer lit a cost saving, to Renault and a ripped off customer feel to the purchaser to the new gearbox. This was the greatest change and has made the car tiresomely slow to react when the throttle is floored and truely uncomfortable when a more refined gentle acceleration is required when ferrying passengers.
The alarm went off when it rained, which was always popular with the neighbours. The leather seat was scratched when delivered. And there was a rattle in the dash board. In total the car was returned to Renault seven times in the first year.
Depreciating at about £15 a day with a tank full of petrol breaking the £50 point and lasting only a few days this is far from being a cheap car. But it is comfortable, it feels safe, it looks good and always raises comments from new passengers who are suprised to find such refinement in a Renault. I recently drove my 1995 car again (I sold it to a friend) in nearly six years it remains free of any mechanical bugs,
drives like a dream and looks great, but I still couldn't listen to the radio.
Summary:
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